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Background: In 2020 the world faced the spread of the coronavirus infection disease (Covid-19). This was a general public health emergency but many people with disabilities might have been particularly affected. Objective: This paper aims to investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and their families. Methods: 110 parents of children with CP (aged 2 to 19) who completed a questionnaire were included. These children were under the care of one of the Italian Children Rehabilitation Centers. Socio-demographic and clinical information about patients and their families were collected. In addition, difficulties on adopting protective measures and in respecting lockdown rules by children were explored. We adopted the ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) framework to create multiple choice questions. Descriptive statistics were reported and logistic regression analyses were run in order to identify the predictors of perceived impairment in motor, speech, manual and behavioral abilities. Results: Daily activities of children, as well as rehabilitation and fitness sessions, underwent a change during the pandemic. Spending more time with family due to lockdown measures, has had, in some cases a positive effect however there was a perceived decrease in rehabilitation support and school activities. The age range (between 7 and 12 years) and difficulty in respecting rules emerged as significant predictors of the perceived impairment due to Covid-19 pandemic. Conclusions: The pandemic has had different impacts on children and their families on the basis of children's characteristics. Rehabilitation activities during a hypothetic lockdown should consider these characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aim: ABILHAND-Kids is a parent-reported questionnaire measuring manual ability in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Its psychometric properties have been established, with the exception of responsiveness, which is examined here.Method: In this cohort study, 98 children (46 males, 52 females; range 6-19y, mean 11y, standard deviation [SD] 3.3y) with unilateral CP underwent three assessments of upper extremity function: at baseline (T1); after 80 to 90 hours of intensive training (T2); and at follow-up (T3). The responsiveness was analyzed using global, group (based on age and on Manual Ability Classification System [MACS] level), and individual approaches during two time periods (T1-T2 and T2-T3). Effect size was used to quantify magnitude of changes.Results: The global approach showed significant improvements between T1 and T2 (p<0.001) but not between T2 and T3 (p=0.222). In the group analyses, effect size and SRM demonstrated large changes in younger children (6-12y, n=52, mean change=1.06 logit, effect size >0.8) and small changes in the older children (13-19y, n=46, mean change=0.71 logit, effect size >0.4). Children in MACS level II demonstrated larger changes than children in MACS level I or III.Interpretation: The ABILHAND-Kids exhibited responsiveness in detecting changes after intensive training. Therefore, this scale is potentially useful in assessing the functional status of children with unilateral CP in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]